The price of life is death
by sorafallenangel11
Summary: When Beckett meets a strange girl new to the city on her new murder case, she knew she looked familiar. When Castle knows the new girl, Beckett doesn't know what to think. But how is the girl connected to her case?


**Hey guys, I began this ages ago, and only just finished it. Its not the best story, but I like the idea, and I hope you do to. Enjoy, and please review. **

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

The first time Kate Beckett met her, it was in an interrogation room. It was a hard case, two young woman murdered after a late night out doing something they had no clue on, and she had no Castle to help her solve it, the bestselling author having travelled the next state over at the demands of his publisher to help promote his newest book.

The girl was underage, not even fifteen yet, with no parents that they knew of, and a child advocate whispering in her ear quietly. Beckett had spent ten minutes looking at the duo from the observation room, mind conflicted on whether it was a good idea to interrogate a child when there was a better chance of her being innocent.

But she had walked in there, and she had conducted the interview, observant eyes swooping the girls figure as she stood up to greet her. Beckett wondered at her manners.

The girl was small and slight, with long blonde hair tied up in a loose ponytail. Her clothes were dirty and ripped, shirt sleeves almost non-existent, the shirt otherwise a dark blue with a loose neckline and flowing down her torso loosely, falling to the top of her thighs. She was wearing dark blue jean shorts, folded over so they stopped just above her knees, and in good need of a wash. Her feet were small, and covered by black vans, full of holes and needing to be thrown away.

"Hello, I'm Detective Kate Beckett. Can you tell me your name?"

The girl had a silver chain necklace around her neck, with a small charm hanging off of it. Looking closer, Beckett could make out a pair of boots, the charm encrusted with what looked like real sapphires.

"Artemis."

The voice was quiet, soft, with a just-there British accent she could only detect from hours going over voice recordings, and sounded as if it belonged on this girl who showed up out of nowhere. The only reason they knew she was involved in the murder of both Annie Kane and Kate Lane was that she was spotted with the victims mere hours before they were killed.

"How did you know Annie Kane and Kate Lane?" Beckett asked softly.

The girls eyebrows furrowed.

"Who?"

Artemis' face was small and thin, with high cheekbones and light eyebrows, with lips that looked a little too plump to fit in with the rest of her face.

Beckett opened her file and quickly pulled out a picture of the victims before their death. Annie was a brunette, with matching chocolate eyes and a pretty round face.

Kate had a long face, with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, but was equally as pretty as her friend - there was, however, no evidence of rape on either victim, therefore complicating the case even more.

Artemis tilted her head, obviously in indecision of what to say.

"You don't have to say anything." The child advocate said soothingly, patting the girls hand. Artemis shook her head at her and smiled almost sadly.

"Ann was my mother's friend. She had picked me up from the airport when I flew in this morning, and was going to take me. . ." She trailed off.

"Don't worry. What about Kate?" Beckett said, tapping the other girls picture.

"I didn't know her. She was there with Ann. Said they were going to get coffee before having a business meeting." The girl breathed out a sigh. "They dropped me off outside KFC at around 13:30, before leaving."

"Your mother's friend?" She zeroed in on.

"Yeah." She sniffed quietly. "They used to work together, but then Ann got transferred. I figured the other woman was new."

"Why did you think that?" Beckett asked, confused.

"Because Ann doesn't have anybody with her unless she's showing them around. When I was younger, she barely even liked having me in her car."

The girl threw a smirk at her, and Beckett had the haunting feeling of seeing those blue eyes looking at her that exact same way before.

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><p>Castle let himself into his home slowly, almost dreading what he'd see on the other side - from the noise his mother was making, he was sure it wasn't good.<p>

The door creaked open almost ominously, and Castle closed his eyes as the scene in his front room was revealed to him.

"Dad!" His eyes snapped open in surprise at the high pitched squeal, and he automatically opened his arms at the sound.

When his arms closed however, he was once again surprised at the fact that it was not Alexis in his arms. This girl was too short to be her, with enough hair that it trailed down over his arms.

"Artemis?" He asked shocked. "What are you doing here?" He tightened his arms around her a moment later, his shock decreasing at the surprise appearance.

"I just got here this morning." She started.

"I thought you were staying in England?" He asked sounding like a question although he didn't mean it to.

"Georgina threw me out. She didn't like me staying in her closet." She said spitefully.

"Her closet?" He asked, concerned. He quietly led her over to the sofa whist she answered, lifting her onto his feet to be able to move easier.

"She said it was a room, but it was about as big as Gram's closet, which, whilst big for clothes, is not big enough for a teenage girl to sleep in." She huffed, and Castle could practically feel her pout.

"Well then, I'm glad you came back." He settled himself more comfortably on the sofa, and lifter her into his lap holding her by the arms away from him so he could see her. She had obviously had a shower, as her hair was in a slightly damp plait, and she was wearing what he knew to be Alexis' clothes, and they hung off her. "We need to go shopping." He frowned.

She opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Castle's phone, which began screeching.

He used a hand to pick it up out of his pocket, and looked at it out of the corner of his eye.

"Beckett." HE informed everyone, although he was pretty sure that at least Alexis and his mother knew anyway.

"How did she know when you got home?" Alexis questioned, confused.

He shrugged, lifting the phone to his ear.

"Wonder if there's been a murder."

He didn't miss the wide=eyed look Artemis shot him.

"Castle."


End file.
